


Day One Hundred Sixty || Stopped in the Road

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [160]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-24 00:05:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19161754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: Just her luck her car would break down on her way to see her cousin. But, oh...this mechanic is kinda cute...





	Day One Hundred Sixty || Stopped in the Road

Gripping the edge of her car hood, Hinata stares at the steaming engine. 

You’ve got to be kidding.

She  _ just _ started this road trip...and now it’s already cancelled. Because something with her engine has gone wrong.  _ UGH! _

Head hanging between her shoulders as she clings to the hood, Hinata gives an entirely uncensored sigh. This...is the biggest bummer ever. So much for going to see her cousin and his fiance. At least it’s not their wedding... _ then _ she’d be having a full-blown temper tantrum. 

Well...time to call a tow truck. And then Neji to apologize. Maybe next time she’ll make it there. Digging out her phone, she checks her car junk in the glove box, dialing the proper number. Thankfully it’s a basic enough conversation. Give her insurance info, say where she’s stranded, and ‘a truck will be with you in an hour’.

An  _ hour?! _ She’s not  _ that _ far out of town, for Pete’s sake!

Groaning once the call’s ended, Hinata just...plops herself into the driver’s seat. At least she got off the road, and there isn’t a  _ huge _ amount of traffic. She’ll just...wait.

Nothing else to do.

Then thinking to dial Neji, she puts the mobile back to her ear. “Hey, Neji? Um...so about me coming to visit…”

“What’s wrong?”

“First, don’t panic: I’m not hurt or anything, but...my car decided to c-call it quits on me.”

There’s a sympathetic sigh on the other end. “Oh no, Hina…”

“There’s a truck coming, so...I guess I’ll just have to get it fixed. But I’m willing to bet it’ll be something that’ll take a while, so...consider me coming over there cancelled.”

“I’m so sorry - and don’t worry. We’ll be sure to see you another time. Are you far out?”

“Not too far, no. I’ll be fine.”

“Well...at least it won’t take you long to get home. And you aren’t hurt, or stranded without signal.”

That earns a wince at the thought. “Yeah...I’m all right. But I wanted to let you know.”

“I appreciate it. Do take care, Hinata - let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“I’ve got pretty good insurance. We’ll see how it pans out.”

Letting the call end, her head thuds back against the headrest. Well...now what?

Rummaging through her purse, she pulls out her mp3 player and slips in an earbud. Door ajar and seat reclined, she lets her eyes close and decides to just...doze. But she keeps one ear open to listen for anyone pulling up. Hopefully it’ll be the truck, and not anyone looking to cause trouble…

Good thing she went to the bathroom before she left in preparation for infrequent rest stops.

Checking her phone for the time a while later, Hinata glances up to her rearview mirror at a slowing car. Oh thank goodness, it’s the tow truck. And nearly half an hour earlier than she’d been told! Putting away her music, she hopes she seems...presentable. Her long road trip outfit of a tank and shorts isn’t the most...publicly appropriate thing she could be wearing. But she’d figured she’d be in her car or her hotel room for ninety-five percent of her drive.

Pulling up ahead of her, the truck maneuvers into place before the driver hops out. He’s wearing a blue mechanic’s coveralls, slightly stained with old oil spills and sporting a tear in a knee. Otherwise he’s got basic boots on, and a backwards cap.

And...oh. He’s cute.

Oh no.

Blinking as he approaches, Hinata shoves the thought faaar back into the recesses of her mind. That is  _ not _ what she needs to be thinking about right now!

“Hey there,” he calls in greeting. 

“Hi…”

“Having some trouble?”

“More than some,” Hinata mumbles, hugging herself a bit. “I have... _ no  _ idea what’s wrong. I’m not a car type of person.”

“No worries, we’ll take it in and see what’s going on. Got anyone coming to pick you up, or…?”

“Oh, uh...n-no. I thought I’d go along and...hear what the damage is.”

“All right, no problem. Let me get this hooked up, and we’ll head back to the shop.”

Feeling awkward just...standing there watching, Hinata pretends to busy herself with her phone. In reality, she’s watching this guy out of the corner of her eyes. He’s got messy hair that’s even darker than hers - rather fair skinned, pretty tall...though his build is a bit hard to see in his baggy outfit.

Then he bends over to pick up some chain, and she blooms bright pink, spinning around.

...he’s got a nice butt.

Fiddling with her phone a bit longer, she turns as he announces he’s done. “Ready to go?” 

“Yes, please...the heat’s been unbearable.”

“Well, I’ve got air conditioning in the truck,” he assures her with a hint of a smile. “I’m Sasuke, by the way.”

“Hinata. Thanks so much for getting here so fast. I think I would have baked alive otherwise.”

“Yeah, I figured. Didn’t want anyone battling the heat for too long.”

With that, he gets back into the driver’s seat, Hinata opening the passenger door. The truck is...a lot cleaner than she’d anticipated. Glancing into the mirror as they start moving, she bites her lip, watching her poor car trail behind them.

“Well, hopefully it won’t be too much to fix,” Sasuke offers, giving her a brief look.

“Yeah...me neither. Not sure I can afford a huge bill right now…”

“Were you heading out of town?”

“I was going to go see my cousin - he’s about eighteen hours from here…”

“Oh wow - at least you didn’t get too far.”

“That’s what he said. I just feel bad I had to cancel…”

“Better safe than sorry.”

The trip passes in an ebb and flow of conversation, the pair occasionally going quiet. In her head, Hinata tries to think of ways to gently approach her father with a request for help if the fix is too expensive. She hasn’t paid this car off yet...she can’t afford to replace it. And it’s been such a good little car until now!

Pulling up to the shop, Sasuke lets Hinata out to head into the office as he brings her rig in to start being looked at. Huddling in the waiting room, she takes a cup of free coffee to pass the time. All the while she prays for a basic fix.

Half an hour later, Sasuke finally comes back. “Okay, so...I’ve got good news, and bad news.”

She wilts. “...o-okay.”

“Good news is, there’s not a lot of serious damage. Your thermostat was busted, which wasn’t letting coolant, in, and caused the overheating. That’s easy enough to fix. The problem comes in from it having been an issue for a little while. Your head gasket’s been cracked.”

Hinata just blinks at him, having...no idea what that is.

“It’s also an easy part to get, but unfortunately, all the time to get things fixed up is going to be a lot of labor cost.”

“Oh…”

Considering her for a long moment, Sasuke sighs, rubbing at his neck. “...since I’ll be the one taking it on...I can get the parts within a few days. And I can  _ probably _ get it done quick enough, it won’t add up to much. Maybe give you a small discount per hour.”

Wide eyes blink. “You...you would do that…?” Funny, she’s always heard of mechanics taking advantage of anyone - though especially women - who don’t know their cars well enough to know better. Is he just playing her…?

“I feel bad your trip got so interrupted. And I don’t want to run you into the ground with a big bill. I can let it slip, just this once.” Glancing to her, he gives a hint of a smile.

Her cheeks go ever so softly pink. “...thank you...that’s a h-huge relief…!” Maybe she won’t have to ask Hiashi, after all.

“Here - I’ll give you my number - if you want to check in on the progress, just let me know. I’ll try to keep you updated, and let you know when we’re about done.”

“Oh! T-thank you.” Shyly handing over her phone, she lets him input his digits into her contacts.

“You got a way to get home?”

“Oh, um...I’ll call my sister.” Thankfully Hanabi’s old enough to ferry her older sibling home. As for how Hinata will get anywhere else...well, she’ll figure it out. “Thank you so much, Sasuke.”

“No problem. We’ll get you fixed up, Hinata.”

Giving Hanabi a ring and waiting to be picked up, she can’t help a few furtive glances into the shop. From here, she can see him rooting around in the engine block.

...did he really need to give her his own number? Can’t he use the shop phone…?

...not that she’s complaining, but...that seemed a little... _ smooth _ .

Seeing Hanabi pull up, she puts the thought aside. Maybe she’ll just...check in tomorrow. Tomorrow won’t be too soon, right?

Maybe her car was doing her a favor.

**Author's Note:**

> Looong day, so I'll be brief xD
> 
> I know...nothing about cars, lol - Google helped me a bit, but idek if this is...realistic or anything. I don't get paid enough writing these to research into how cars work enough to make something more detailed xD I found a few random snippets of info and just...pretended they'd make a real scenario. If it's wrong...whoops!
> 
> Anyway, I am...e x h a u s t e d, so I'm gonna call it a night. Thanks for reading!


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